Swartz Creek Estates residents contend with water, high wind damage

SWARTZ CREEK, MI – Residents in the Swartz Creek Estates
mobile home park had to contend with flood and wind damage after storms rocked
through the Genesee County area last night.

Park resident Sue Sutton has lived in the park for about 3
years. She said when she returned home from working a night shift she wasn't
able to pull down her street to pull into her driveway.

"I have a two-car garage and you can't even see that I have
a driveway, it looks like a lake." Sutton said.

The water line on Sutton's trailer came up about one and a
half feet and about one foot on the garage, she said.

"I have a freezer and a lot of stuff in totes in my garage,"
Sutton said. "Hopefully,the totes are dry and everything in them stayed dry. If
I've lost an entire freezer full of food and a freezer that is only a couple of
years old, I'm going to be very angry."

Many people in the park were without power this morning,
said park manager Ginger Petrucha. Sutton said she was fortunate that her
mother, who was still inside the trailer, said there was still power to the
home.

Petrucha said Consumer's Energy first estimated the park
would have power restored around noon, but estimates now look like it may be
sometime this evening. The lack of power is hindering the draining of the water
in the streets, she said. The park has a drainage pond with an electric pump,
but without power, the water is slowly receding.

Waters in the streets were measured at more than three-feet
in some places Friday morning, covering one car past its headlights. The
stranded vehicle remains in the roadway, while park residents have blocked off
the streets where flooding was too high to traverse by vehicle.

Sutton pointed to her neighbor's garage across the street
and said the water was so high there, that her neighbor's Corvette had
significant amounts of water inside of it.

Rochelle Brown has lived in the park for 10 years. She said
she didn't have to worry about any water damage, but wind damage instead.

Brown's staircase that leads to a side door was flipped and
damaged, but she said it would not be that hard to repair. She then pointed
across the way to a neighbor's house where their shed had been completely
demolished.

"We were lucky, the base of the staircase should be good,"
Brown said. "We'll probably have to replace the railings."

Petrucha said once the water recedes the park will begin clean-up
and repairs, but residents will be responsible for damages to their own homes.

"Right now until we assess and see what happens, for
everyone's personal home their damage of course will be covered under their
home insurance." Petrucha said. " As far as the streets and everything, our
company will get in here and do what they need to do to get it looking nice
again."

Amanda can be reached at 810-875-2208 or temery@mlive.com. You can also
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